


Sweethearts

by straybulletproofstars



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Awful banter, F/M, MJ is the Worst Best Friend Ever, Myungjun Is Done, Reader Having A Crisis Over Cute String Bean, Reader is An Awkward Mess Who Needs to Pull Themselves Together, Secret Admirer, excessive blushing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 13:51:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15120773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/straybulletproofstars/pseuds/straybulletproofstars
Summary: “You’re never gonna have a chance with String Bean over there if you keep leaving him candy and post-it notes on his desk without signing your name on it.”Where Sanha has the biggest sweet tooth on this side of the world and you’re weak to his sugary smiles.





	Sweethearts

**Author's Note:**

> It’s my first Reader Insert fic and man, did I struggle. I apologize in advance for Reader being one big trash pile at feelings. If this fic is as bad as I think it is, hopefully MJ will make up for my awful attempt at fluffy romance.

“You have a problem,” Myungjun unhelpfully points out as he slides into the desk behind yours, lips fighting to keep from tilting up at the corners. He rolls his eyes dramatically, but amusement glints in them despite his attempt at playing serious. “What’s the count at? Isn’t this the tenth time since the semester started?”  
  
“No!” You glare at him in response but when he raises his eyebrows skeptically, you relent. Banging your head on your desk once, your answer is muffled against the cool wooden surface, “Fifteenth, actually.”

“I don’t know why you don’t just give him the candy yourself,” The curly-haired brunet says when you finally decide to lift your head, “Giving someone sweets isn’t illegal, last time I checked. It’s even considered nice, to most people. I wish Seoyoung would give me chocolate.” MJ’s tone is wistful but you can’t help but tease him in retaliation to his previous remark. 

“I think you need to grow a couple more inches before she realizes you even exist,” You snort and he tugs at your hair childishly, sticking his tongue out and making a face at you. “What are you, five?” 

“Yeah, a five out of five stars,” Myungjun winks as you shoot him an unimpressed stare, “You’re never gonna have a chance with String Bean if you keep leaving him candy and post-it notes on his desk without signing your name on it. The only reason he hasn’t figured out that it’s you yet is because he probably doesn’t realize it’s your handwriting.”

“I don’t want him to know it’s me! That’s the whole point of me not signing it. I don’t want him figuring out I’m some creepy stalker who buys him gummy bears because he struggles with English worksheets and I know he likes sweets.”

“And you think he’s cute,” MJ grins as your cheeks begin to heat up, betraying you instantly. “Come on, I’ve seen you sending heart eyes in his direction every time he asks you for help or borrows a pen. It’s almost tragic how obvious your pining is when I can barely see your face from here.” 

“Shut up,” You smack the short boy’s arm with a little more force than necessary and he yelps in surprise. “I swear to god, Myungjun if you say a word about—”

You never get to finish your sentence when a very familiar voice joins your conversation.

“Say a word about what?” Sanha tilts his head to one side, bright doe eyes curious as he stands in between your desk and his own. He drops his backpack but still stares expectantly at you, waiting for a reply. You can almost feel yourself starting to break into a nervous sweat.

“Oh, uh, um,” You stutter, lips flapping open and closed like a drowning fish as you throw MJ a look that screams ‘back me up here!!’. 

“About how she accidentally brought home Rocky’s history book yesterday instead of her own,” He fibs quickly and your face flushes three different shades of red. 

Myungjun was never the best liar and while he hadn’t exposed your massive crush on the dark-haired boy in front of you, he decided to reveal your embarrassing mistake instead. In your defense, you were in such a hurry to leave class that you didn’t check which table you took the textbook from until it was too late. You were still dreading having to apologize and give Minhyuk his copy back next period, even if he seemed nice enough and probably wouldn’t mind.

“Oh, that was you!” Sanha’s eyes light up in recognition and you’re tempted to slam your head against your desk for the second time this morning. “He told me his went missing yesterday and I had to lend him mine! He probably won’t be mad, though, so don’t worry! I can be a little out of it too, sometimes.” 

He gives you a reassuring smile that practically melts you on the spot and you take a second to recover before returning it. You open your mouth to reply but MJ cuts you off, expression every bit untrustworthy.

“You guys must be perfect for each other then,” He smirks and Sanha blinks owlishly as the quip takes a few moments to register in his head. You stare at the cracks between the tiled floor, praying it swallows you up before you have to hear the taller boy answer, but you’re saved when Sanha’s attention is diverted to the pack of gummy bears on his desk.

“Did you guys see who left these?” The dark-haired guitarist’s eyes light up as he sits down and opens the wrapper, already munching on the colorful treat. There’s the smallest blush rising up his pale cheeks. 

MJ slides you a look that says, ‘if you don’t say something, I will’, and you hurriedly shake your head, hoping you don’t resemble a demented bobble head in the process. 

“N-no, sorry! We just got here a few minutes ago so…” You trail off awkwardly, “You must be really popular, getting candy from a secret admirer all the time!” 

You’re clearly rambling and MJ gives your chair a subtle kick to get you to stop talking. Why did you always have to say too much every time you got nervous?

Sanha’s ears turn red at your remark and he shakes his head rapidly, bangs flopping around his face in a way that reminds you of a beagle shaking his long ears. “I-I’m not really, uh, popular or anything!” He refutes as he self-consciously ducks his head, shoveling a few more gummy bears into his mouth. You try your best not to coo at the sight of his stuffed cheeks. “I wish I knew who they were, so I could at least thank them.”

Myungjun lets out a frustrated huff and you nearly have to slap a hand over his mouth to keep him from revealing your secret but your luck must not be as bad as you think it is, because your teacher comes in at that exact second and all three of you turn to face the front of the classroom, effectively ending the conversation.

“Chicken,” MJ whispers from behind you, pouting like the baby he is, but you ignore him and let out a relieved breath. 

“Not today, Satan.”

__________

 

It’s been a week since The Incident and things have gone back to normal. Sanha still occasionally brings up the topic of the identity of the person leaving him gifts but you keep up your clueless facade, only coming close to slipping up when MJ feels like giving you a hard time.

It’s Wednesday and you leave lollipops on Sanha’s desk during your afternoon English period, when he looks a little tired from guitar practice and what might’ve been a midnight study session. His exhaustion doesn’t quell his excitement when he notices the candy and you hear Myungjun snicker at your longing stare at the unsuspecting boy’s precious smile. 

Your phone buzzes, snapping you out of your trance so you avert your eyes from Sanha’s giddy expression. Taking the device out, you get the urge to turn around and strangle thesmall brunet behind you. 

**Tellytubby Sun:** _’Tone down the pining a notch, princess. You reek of desperation. I can smell it from over here.’_

_‘Now you know how I feel when we have math with Seoyoung.’_ You text back angrily, puffing your cheeks out as you release a frustrated breath. Your reply earns you a kick from MJ but you’re too busy quietly cackling to yourself to care. Serves him right for making fun of you every chance he gets.

Class starts a minute later and you quiet down as the teacher instructs the students to pass their homework forward so she can collect the papers and begins discussing an upcoming project due next month. You’re too busy staring blankly at the whiteboard that you nearly fly out of your seat when you feel someone tap you on the shoulder.

“Sorry,” Sanha fights back a laugh when he sees your wide-eyed expression. You hate that despite him giggling at startling you, you’re putty in his—probably not so capable—hands. “Do you have a pen I can borrow? I forgot to put my name on my homework and my pen’s out of ink.”  
  
“Yeah sure, here,” You internally curse yourself for how high-pitched and awkward your answer comes out but if he realized how flustered you are, he doesn’t let on.

“You know,” Sanha drops his voice an octave as he meets your gaze with his brown one, “I hope that whoever the person leaving me candy is, they’re at least as nice as you are. This is at least the twentieth time I’ve asked for a pen—sorry about that by the way, I lose all the ones I buy within 48 hours—but you still lend me yours even if I’m bothering you.”

It takes all your self control to keep yourself from combusting on the spot. If this were a cartoon, steam would be coming out of your ears and your entire body would be flushed as scarlet as a tomato. You immediately wave your hands in front of you, brushing off his compliment. 

“N-no, no! It’s no problem, I promise! I don’t mind!” You refute quickly, shooting him what you hope is a comforting smile, “And besides, if they go through all the trouble of giving you sweets nearly everyday, they have to be at least three times nicer than I am!”

You ignore the not-so-subtle snort from Myungjun, who’s listening like the awful best friend he is, and keep your eyes on Sanha. The dark-haired guitarist passes you back your pen when he finishes signing his paper.

“Maybe, but I, uh, think you’re pretty kind. You lent me your book when I misplaced mine and you help me with the worksheets because I get the tenses wrong!”

His tone is fervent and he talks so fast that you can barely keep up with his words but you can tell how earnest he is from the sparkle in his brown eyes. 

You instinctively insist it was nothing, getting distracted when you feel your phone vibrate once again. Making sure Sanha can’t see the text, you glance at the screen from under the table.

**Tellytubby Sun:** _’Exposed!!’_

_‘I swear to god, I’m gonna give Seoyoung a love letter and say it's from you if you don’t shut up!’_  

**Tellytubby Sun:** _‘You wouldn’t dare.’_

_‘You wanna bet?’_

MJ doesn’t respond but you can hear him pouting from your seat in front of him and you can’t help the victorious grin that forms on your face. You’re certain things can’t get any better after getting a compliment from Sanha _and_ winning an argument with Myungjun but then, your teacher’s voice snaps you back to reality.  

“Y/N, you’ll be partnering with Sanha. He needs a lot of help and your English grades speak for themselves. Good luck. Don’t forget, class, you have three weeks to work on your paper. That’s plenty of time to finish your research and practice your presentation. No late submissions or procrastinating, understand?”

A few students groan under their breath but the polite agreement from the rest of the class drowns them out, so your teacher doesn’t catch the quiet remarks of ‘yeah, right’ whispered by a couple of boys at the back of the room. 

You have no idea what the project is or what exactly you’re supposed to help Sanha with, but your worries are flush down the drain when the guitarist turns to you with a smile that could light the entire classroom, “I’m counting on you, partner!” 

Screw it, you’d ask Myungjun about the project later. This was the perfect opportunity to spend more time with Sanha and you weren’t about to blow it. For the third time today, you get another message.

**Tellytubby Sun:** _‘Good luck not looking like an idiot in front of String Bean. ₩5,000 says he finds out you’re his secret candy godmother by the project deadline!’_  

_‘Aren’t you the most supportive best friend someone could have?’_

You were beginning to think being paired up with Sanha going to be both a curse and a blessing. Maybe, it would be easier to just pay MJ the ₩5,000 now and admit defeat while you still had dignity left.

__________

 

The first couple of times you meet Sanha at the library after school to work on your research paper go well. Other than the first study session—where MJ attempted to hide between the bookshelves to eavesdrop on your conversation and you had to chuck an eraser at his head to get him to finally leave you two alone, all while trying to keep Sanha from spotting Myungjun—everything had gone smoothly.

Sanha, oblivious as always to his effect on you, had taken to paying you nonchalant compliments about your proficiency at English as well as your never-ending patience (something you were confident MJ would disagree with). You felt like Fate was pulling a cruel joke on you, urging you to get your hopes up every time the dark-haired boy woulddo something sweet like insisting on buying you a banana milk from the vending machine after working particularly hard or carrying your books for you right before you two parted at the school gates.

You were positive that the gestures were just Sanha’s way of paying you back for checking his English work and writing most of the paper while trying to explain the topic of your project to him. He professed several times how guilty he felt for not quite understanding the subject enough to write the other sections of the paper, offering more than once to do the presentation part instead. It was most likely out of obligation or gratefulness that he did those things for you, but a part of you wished it meant something more. 

You shrugged off those feelings as best as you could, trying to convince yourself that you would take whatever you could get, and the library meetings with Sanha slowly became part of your weekly routine. You looked forward to the hour or two you spent twice a week typing away and sharing easy conversation with the talkative boy, who filled the silence with stories about his friends—the talented dancer Rocky and the sleepy yet athletic Moonbin—and his after school guitar lessons. 

However, two weeks into your set up, you let your guard down a little and it leads to a slip-up that remind you exactly how terrible your luck truly was. It starts out with Sanha borrowing your notebook, plucking it from your school bag to copy some of the notes that he missed from the last lecture. 

“Your notes are so organized compared to mine and colorful too!” He says as you look up from the screen of your laptop. He flicks through the pages, admiring the color-coded highlights and the rainbow memos scribbled into the margins. “Your doodles are nice! That’s unfair! Even my stick people look ugly.” 

Sanha pouts childishly and you feel the corners of your mouth tilt up into a smile despite how hard you try not to react to his expression. “I’m sure you don’t draw _that_ bad.” 

He doesn’t really look convinced but something catches his eye and his expression morphs into one of contemplation. “Have I ever borrowed your notes?” 

You furrow your eyebrows and shake your head, but Sanha continues you to stare at your writing as if analyzing the text. 

“Are you sure? Your handwriting looks familiar.” He waves the notebook in front of you, pointing at a few of the characters with his finger. You feel your insides grow cold with dread and you cross your fingers under the table, praying to every deity that exists that he doesn’t put two and two together. 

“Maybe you’ve seen my worksheets during class,” You lie through clenched teeth, smile feeling forced as it sits on your lips. Sanha, thankfully, nods and the questioning look in his eyes dissipates within seconds. You hold in your relieved sigh and for possibly the thirtieth time this semester, you’re grateful for how blind he is.  

“It’s really easy to read,” Sanha comments, obviously buying your explanation and moving on from the topic in a blink of an eye. “I should probably organize my notes more. Maybe, I’d understand the lessons better.” 

“Color-coding different topics helps, too,” You offer and immediately regret opening your mouth—even if you were just _trying_ to help—when he perks up.

“Yeah! You write with all different colored pens! It reminds me of the Candy Fairy, a little. Their notes are always in rainbow ink.” He looks embarrassed at suddenly mentioning his secret admirer, averting his eyes quickly and refusing to meet your gaze.

Changing the subject hastily to avoid any further suspicion, you ask, “Candy Fairy?” 

Sanha rolls his eyes and relaxes fractionally, “Moonbin came up with it. Said it was like the Tooth Fairy but instead of money, she gives candy. He thinks it’s good wordplay but I think it sounds stupid. 

“I think it’s sort of cute,” You counter before your brain to mouth filter kicks in. The boy across you wrinkles his nose in response. 

“I guess,” He mutters, scratching the back of his neck nervously. For a few seconds, the silence grows awkward and you flounder for things to say. Almost on cue, your phone rings and you nearly drop it in your haste to answer the call.

“Where are you? I’ve been out here for ten minutes! The only excuse you’re allowed to give me is that you finally stopped drooling over String Bean and confessed, so you two were too busy making out to check the time. Otherwise, you’re buying me lunch tomorrow.” MJ complains, voice slightly whiny and louder than called for. 

You glance at Sanha, scanning his expression for any sign that he overheard the smaller boy’s remark but he just stares at you inquisitively. Count on Myungjun to lack any sort of volume modulation when he talks.

“Sorry, got caught up doing work. I’ll be there in a few!” You hang up without waiting for the brunet’s reply and haphazardly start shoving your things into your bag. “I’m really sorry, Sanha! I was supposed to go home with MJ ten minutes ago! I’ll see you after school next week to do the rest! Bye!”

He stands up abruptly to help you pack up and you have your bag slung over your right shoulder, pushing your chair in with your foot, when Sanha grabs your wrist to stop you.  

You nearly jump out of your skin at the physical contact and he drops his hand instantly, ears coloring as he hastily links his fingers together and hides his hands behind his back in embarrassment.  

“Sorry, I just—um, do you want me to walk you to where you’re meeting him or…?” He makes a move to pick his backpack off the floor and follow but you shake your head insistently. 

“No, really! I’m good—great—uh, fine!” You’re sure your stammering makes the situation even tenser, if that’s even humanly possible, and you attempt to ease the awkward air between you. “Get home safe, Sanha. I’ll see you in class tomorrow!”

The brunet ducks his head and rocks back on his heels, fidgeting with his fingers. You’re in too much of a rush to wait for his response so you turn and head to the exit. You don’t get more than a few steps forward when you hear him call out to you, “I—um, take care!”  

It takes all your will power not to turn around, opting to wave back as you leave the library. It’s only when you’re far enough away do you let the stupid, traitorous smile show. Coming up to MJ, who sits on one of the benches near the school gates, you cover your face in your hands and mumble, “I’m so pathetically into him.” 

Without missing a beat, he stands up with his backpack over his shoulder and waits for you to drop your hands. Meeting your eyes with the most serious expression you’ve ever seen him wear, he says, “I’m glad you’ve realized that. Denial wasn’t a good look on you.”

__________

 

There were three facts you came to realize within the span of seven days:

  1. You were a coward.
  2. Your weekly gifts grew into a much bigger deal than you expected it to.
  3. Nothing, not even whimpering puppies and Disney movies, broke your heart more than watching the disappointment on Sanha’s face when you stopped leaving him candy since your last meeting together.



It started out as an innocent gesture. You sat to Sanha’s left during English since the beginning of the semester and he’d occasionally borrow a pen or ask you for help on whatever worksheet your teacher instructed you to complete. Normally, you’d politely point out your classmates’ mistakes and give them brief tips on how to get the right answer before going back to your own work but he charmed you with dazzling smiles and awed looks when he managed to get perfect scores on his papers because of your assistance. 

Helping him in class slowly turned into sporadic conversations where he briefly mentions his love for sweets—especially candy, which he craves whenever he’s having a bad day or needs a pick me up after staying up late studying or practicing guitar. You shared your obsession with banana milk and when class was dragging on too long, you two would play tic tac toe and hangman by passing a sheet of paper back and forth when the teacher wasn’t looking.

Then, two weeks into the semester, he came into class sleepy and a lot quieter than usual. In an attempt to cheer him up, you left a few chocolate kisses that you brought from home as a snack on his desk along with a post-it note telling him to get some rest later. The dose of sugar brightened his mood immediately and you were weak to how much sweeter his smiles were after having candy, so it slowly spiraled into a routine of leaving him treats at least a few times a week.

You felt awful stopping so abruptly, just because you were scared that once he had seen your handwriting, he’d notice that not only was your writing similar to his secret admirer but it was also _exactly identical_.   

You hated seeing the anticipation and excitement in Sanha’s eyes dissolve every time he came into the classroom only to be greeted by a glaring lack of colorful post-it notes and sweets. You knew he was trying not to show his dismay but as the days went by, the wrinkle between his eyebrows and his frowns grew more and more prominent. 

Myungjun had given up on trying to convince you to stop being so paranoid after hearing one to many excuses, pointing out the taller boy’s sagging shoulders and silence more than once before getting tired of competing with your stubbornness. 

You sighed to yourself yet again when Sanha slides into the desk beside you, looking even more morose than he did yesterday. He tries to give you a small smile in greeting but doesn’t say anything else, opening his notebook and aimlessly scribbling music notes in the margins. The guilt eats you up inside and you want to say something to comfort him but you feel like you’ve lost the right to do that, since this was pretty much your fault in the first place. 

You can barely focus on anything the teacher is discussing the entire period and your notebook remains blank other than the tic tac toe games you’re playing by yourself, all ending in ties. You glance at the clock, trying to will the hands to move faster when you feel something brush against your elbow. 

Turning to your right, you realize that something is a torn sheet of paper with several small lines and a messily drawn gallows on it. Sanha offers you a tiny grin that doesn’t quite reach his eyes and you try to return it with more sincerity, taking the page from his hand.

Class goes faster than expected now that you two are exchanging notes and guessing different words, completing five games of Hangman before you’re all dismissed. As you rise from your seat to leave for your next subject, you notice Rocky at the door. 

He approaches Sanha, posture relaxed and hands tucked in his pockets. “Nothing from Candy Fairy today again?” He raises his eyebrow and the younger boy doesn’t need to reply, his expression already giving it away. Rocky lets out a slightly crestfallen breath but smiles at Sanha, throwing an arm around him and shaking him a little rougher than necessary.

“Just be patient! Maybe they ran out of money or they’re too busy to stop by the convenience store to get you something. It’s probably nothing. You want me to buy you a drink from the vending machine for lunch instead?”  

The dark-haired guitarist mutters something too low for you to hear but you’re too busy debating on leaving the classroom and burying your guilt with food or handing him the chocolate bar you brought to school. You spent the entire morning telling yourself it was for you but you know the truth of the matter is you brought it just in case you changed your mind and caved like you knew you eventually might.

The boys’ conversation goes on for a little while and you don’t have all the time in the world to sit and write a list of pros and cons to help you decide. So, you close your eyes, take a deep breath, and find whatever courage you have in you. Curse Sanha and his sad puppy dog eyes and your inability to see him so dejected. 

They’re about to head out for lunch when you hear your own voice call out, “Um, Sanha, wait up!” 

He turns to you, expression perplexed, and stops in his tracks. Your mouth feels about as dry as the Sahara Desert and walking towards someone has never been this difficult until today, but you steel your nerves and hold out the chocolate, trying to ignore the way subtle shaking of your hands. 

“I know Candy Fairy hasn’t given you anything recently, so, uh, I figured maybe you might want—,” You have no idea where your sentence is going and you attempt to start again, “I know I’m not them but—”

Sanha stares at you dumbfounded for a second but recovers quickly and beams so brightly you swear you’re going to go blind. “I can really have this?” He sounds unsure but hopeful, cheeks flushed crimson and eyes alight.  

You don’t trust your voice so you nod briefly as he takes the chocolate gratefully. “Cheer up, okay? They’ll come around eventually.” You reassure him as he thanks you repeatedly, bowing so low that you can feel the embarrassment bubbling in your chest.

Rocky is laughing quietly behind you two, watching the scene unfold with amusement dancing in his eyes. You duck your head, trying to conceal the humiliation written on your face while persuading Sanha to stop professing his appreciation over and over again.  

Oh, things you do for this gawky, umber-haired dork. At least MJ couldn’t call you a wimp anymore.

__________

 

You’re starting to think MJ’s going to end up owing you the ₩5,000 as the project deadline grows nearer and nearer. It’s one of your final project meetings with Sanha and the only things you two have left to do is edit the powerpoint he made and practice presenting your project. 

The candy deliveries are back with full force, increasing in frequency as you try to make up for the week that you skipped out on giving him anything, and you’ve taken to changing your handwriting on the notes you leave him to make the similarities less obvious.  

It seems to be working because he doesn’t bring up the topic again, but for some reason, Sanha’s gotten a lot quieter around you and you’ve noticed him staring into space more often, features arranged into an expression of contemplation. You’re tempted to ask him about it but something always stops you from touching on the subject.

You spend most of this study session fidgeting in your seat constantly, sneaking worried glances at your partner and trying to concentrate on correcting his spelling mistakes as you flip through the powerpoint.  

The time passes quicker than you expect and one of the librarian assistants comes over to remind you that the building closes in ten minutes, resulting in the pair of you putting away the papers, cue cards, and writing materials scattered across the table. 

It’s ridiculous—the way it happens—but one moment, you’re hurriedly stowing your binder into your bag and the next, Sanha is reaching over swiftly to hand over your folder when he accidentally steps on the long strap of your messenger bag that’s trailing against the floor and causes it to fall from desk. The contents comes pouring out onto the carpet and you both kneel down to clean up the mess.

You’re so focused on organizing your belongings back into your bag that it takes you almost half a minute before you notice that Sanha is frozen in place, clutching a plastic bag full of jelly beans, your nearly finished pack of post-its, and your case of multi-colored markers. Fear rises in your throat, making it impossible to speak and you can hear your heart beating frantically in your ears as the panic sets in.

You try to come up with a believable excuse as to why you had the same jelly beans you gave him earlier as well as the exact stationary and handwriting as his Candy Fairy but your mind goes blank and your palms start to sweat nervously. 

When he looks up to meet your gaze, you’re surprised when he seems nearly as flustered as you are but also surprisingly pleased. He averts his eyes as soon as he sees you staring back at him. Still glancing away, Sanha lets out a small, timid laugh.

“Um, don’t take this the wrong way but,” He takes a deep breath and the splash of pink across his cheekbones fades somewhat, “I was hoping it was you. Candy Fairy is nice but it would’ve been awkward if they were a complete stranger…and well, when you gave me chocolate that one time I thought you were them. I was glad at first because, I—this is so hard!—I’ve liked you since you tutored me during English at the beginning of the semester…but then you acted like it wasn’t you and I felt horrible, thinking about how I’d have to reject Candy Fairy since I already…you know. So, I’m really relieved it was always you!”

Most of his monologue comes out in short spurts, slowing down in between shaky breaths and then erratically speeding up again. The rosy blush that had mostly drained from his face earlier had come back full force now, lightly coloring his neck and ears. 

It takes you a few seconds to process the information, making the poor boy in front of you squirm in his seat as he waits for your answer. You have no idea what comes over you when a giggle escapes your lips and you relax considerably, breaking into a relieved smile. 

“I feel like the biggest idiot ever not just taking Myungjun’s advice and telling you in the first place. I would’ve said something if I knew you weren’t going to think I was creepy stalker,” You shake your head at how ridiculous you had been the entire time. 

Sanha grins back, handing over your stuff as you two go back to putting everything into your bag, “So, I know the library is closing soon but I kind of want to spend time with you outside of studying and working on our project…if that’s okay?” He pointedly keeps his gaze cast down at notebooks scattered across the carpet.

In a moment of bravery, you can’t help but poke a little fun at him. “Are you asking me out, Sanha?” Your tone betrays the mischievous twinkle in your eyes and Sanha picks up on it straight away, raising his head and pouting for a second.

“I’m asking how you feel about crepes,” He mutters almost too low for you to hear, refusing to give into your teasing. You fight back the smirk that threatens to appear on your face and nod.

“I happen to have a bit of a sweet tooth, too, so you’re in luck.” You stand up once your things are back inside your messenger bag and he follows your lead, lacing his fingers through yours as subtly as he can as he drags you towards the door. You pretend like the red stain across his skin doesn’t match your heated face, giving his slightly trembling hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance.

Suddenly, a thought crosses your mind and you come to an abrupt halt, causing Sanha to pause as well. “What’s wrong?”

Taking out your phone, you send a short text and say, “Nothing, don’t worry. I just had to do something first. Lead the way.” 

Shrugging, he tugs you forward while you tuck the device back into place, smiling quietly to yourself when you feel it buzz.

_‘I owe you ₩5,000.’_

**Tellytubby Sun:** _‘It’s about time. Details when you’re done being disgustingly cute with String Bean.’_

**Author's Note:**

> Did I shamelessly name this fic after a brand of heart candy? Hell yeah I did. Deal with it. Also, no offense was intended towards String Beans, they’re cute and good for you. Eat healthy, kids.


End file.
